A woman has died in a car crash after her long hair reportedly became stuck in the steering wheel.

Caterina Alzetta, 20, and her older brother Pietro were driving in the Italian town of Montereale Valcellina when she rolled down a window and the high wind cause her hair get stuck in the wheel.

She tried to pull it free, causing their Ford Fiesta to veer into oncoming traffic and crash, according to Pietro, who survived and had to be cut free from the wreckage.

Local media reported she was a passenger in the car at the time.

Caterina Alzetta

Her father Michele Alzetta, who is head of the local ambulance rescue emergency service in the northern Italian town said: "My daughter's hair was thick and long, but tragically her hair got caught in the steering wheel, and as we understand it when she made a sudden movement of the head it pulled on the steering wheel."